1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is that of radiocommunication systems. In the present context, xe2x80x9cradiocommunication systemsxe2x80x9d means systems generally called xe2x80x9ccordlessxe2x80x9d systems, for example systems to the DECT (Digital European Cordless Telecommunications) standard or the CT2 (Cordless Telephone 2nd generation) standard and systems generally called xe2x80x9ccellularxe2x80x9d systems, for example systems to the GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) standard or the DCS 1800 (Digital Communication System) standard. Also, in the present context, these radiocommunication systems can be analog systems or digital systems.
To be more precise, the invention concerns a base station of a radiocommunication system of the above kind.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Each base station covers a given geographical area (or cell) in which mobile stations can move around, each mobile station being a physical equipment used by a user of the network to access the telecommunication services offered.
Depending on the system, the base station is sometimes also called the radio fixed part (RFP), base or terminal. Similarly, the mobile station is sometimes also called a mobile handset, radiocommunication terminal or portable telephone
Each base station provides mobile stations in its coverage area with wireless access to the radiocommunication network. To this end, the base stations and the mobile stations exchange information on radio channels. These channels are either traffic channels, if they transmit speech or data, or control channels, if they transmit signaling.
Traffic channels and control channels are usually divided into bidirectional channels and unidirectional channels. A bidirectional channel supports an uplink (mobile station to base station) and a downlink (base station to mobile station). In contrast, a unidirectional channel supports only an uplink or a downlink.
The present description concerns only unidirectional channels (traffic channels or control rue channels) transmitted by the base stations, ie comprising only a downlink However, it should be noted that in the present context xe2x80x9cunidirectional channelsxe2x80x9d means not only xe2x80x9ctruexe2x80x9d unidirectional channels (i.e. designed with only a downlink) but also xe2x80x9cfalsexe2x80x9d unidirectional channels (i.e. designed with an uplink and a downlink but temporarily operating in a unidirectional type mode because of an incident on the uplink).
In the context of unidirectional channels transmitted by the base stations, a distinction is drawn between broadcast channels and simplex channels. A broadcast channel is transmitted by a base station to a plurality of mobile stations (point-to-multipoint scheme). A simplex channel is transmitted by a base station to a single mobile station (point-to-point scheme).
The radio signal transmitted by a base station can be subject to rapid fading before it is received by the mobile station or stations which can lead to partial or total corruption of the information conveyed.
Adding an antenna diversity device to the base station to alleviate distortion due to the propagation medium (fading, multipath, etc.) is known in itself, in particular in a DECT type system.
In the case of a bidirectional channel, the base station chooses to receive via one or other of its antennas and the mobile station commands the base station to transmit on one or other of its antennas. In other words, the mobile station compares the quality of the signals received (not simultaneously) from the various antennas of the base station and requests the base station to transmit on the antenna whose signal is received with the best quality.
In the case of a unidirectional channel transmitted by the base station the mobile station cannot command the base station to change the transmitting antenna.
In order to be able to employ the antenna diversity mechanism regardless of this fact, it has been proposed to switch periodically from one antenna to the other in this case. This periodic switching is embodied in a rule of alternation if the base station comprises two antennas or a circular rule if the base station comprises more than two antennas
For example, if the station comprises two antennas and if the system is of the TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) type, i.e. if the unidirectional channel consists in the recurrence of a particular time slot in each frame, then the periodic switching consists in using each antenna for only one frame in two. In other words, in this example, half the frames (and thus half the time slots allocated to the unidirectional channel) are transmitted by one antenna and the other half of the frames (and thus the other half of the time slots allocated to the unidirectional channel) are transmitted by the other antenna.
This prior art technique of switching in accordance with a periodic process assures that the mobile station receives the unidirectional channel half the time on one antenna and half the time on the other antenna Accordingly, even if the signal from one antenna is subject to fading rendering it unusable, it is probable that the signal from the other antenna is not distorted. Consequently, in most cases, this prior art technique prevents fading (or other distortion due to the propagation medium) half the time.
Unfortunately, this prior art technique of switching in accordance with a periodic process does not suit all situations, because it presupposes that the mobile station is listening to the base station at all times.
In particular, it does not suit the situation in which the mobile station listens to the mobile station only intermittently, at regular time intervals. If the listening period and the period for switching between the antennas are multiples of each other the mobile station always listens to (or xe2x80x9cseesxe2x80x9d) the same antenna If the signal transmitted by the only antenna seen by the mobile station is distorted, the link balance between the mobile station and the base station can be strongly degraded or even cancel out. Obviously in this situation antenna diversity is of no use.
A situation of the above kind corresponds, for example, to the situation in which the mobile station is xe2x80x9cidlexe2x80x9d and listening to the paging channel (a particular control channel) on which it could receive a seek message from the base station in the event of an incoming call. This listening is done in accordance with a predetermined law, generally consisting in listening to only some of the time slots of the paging channel to limit power consumption. If the base station uses two antennas alternately to transmit the successive time slots of the paging channel, and if the mobile station is listening only to one time slot in N of the paging channel (where N is an even number), then the mobile station always listens to time slots transmitted by the same antenna and the effect of antenna diversity is lost.
One objective of the invention is to alleviate this drawback of the prior art.
To be more precise, one objective of the present invention is to provide an antenna diversity base station for transmitting unidirectional channels which further improves the reception of these unidirectional channels by the mobile stations.
Another objective of the invention is to provide a base station of this kind using a technique of switching between antennas that suits all situations and in particular regardless of the law whereby the mobile stations listen to the paging channel.
These various objectives, together with others that will become apparent hereinafter, are achieved in accordance with the invention with the aid of a base station of a radiocommunication system of the type comprising at least, two antennas and means for selecting one of the antennas, the selector means comprising:
means for determining if a channel to transmit to at least one mobile station is unidirectional, and
means for switching from one of the antennas to another in accordance with a predetermined random or pseudo-random law if the determination means indicate to the switching means that the channel to transmit is unidirectional.
Thus, in accordance with the invention, the law of switching between the antennas is a random or pseudo-random law and not a periodic law as in the current state of the art.
Accordingly, regardless of its listening law, a mobile station xe2x80x9cseesxe2x80x9d all the antennas and can benefit from the advantages of antenna diversity The link balance between the base station and the mobile station is improved 10 dB.
The unidirectional channel advantageously belongs to the group comprising:
channels intended to be unidirectional, and
channels not intended to be unidirectional but temporarily having a unidirectional character.
The invention applies equally to xe2x80x9ctruexe2x80x9d unidirectional channels (comprising only a downlink) and to xe2x80x9cfalsexe2x80x9d unidirectional channels (comprising an uplink and a downlink but temporarily operating only on the downlink). In other words, the invention applies to all channels on which the base station can contact the mobile station but conversely the mobile station cannot contact the base station.
Each channel designed to be unidirectional advantageously belongs to the group comprising;
broadcast channels each transmitted to a plurality of mobile stations, and
simplex channels each transmitted to a single mobile station.
Each broadcast or simplex channel preferably belongs to the group comprising:
traffic channels,
control channels,
xe2x80x9cdummy bearerxe2x80x9d channels, and
xe2x80x9cbeaconxe2x80x9d channels.
The radiocommunication system preferably belongs to the group comprising;
DECT (Digital European Cordless Telecommunications) type systems,
CT1 (Cordless Telephone 1st generation) type systems,
CT2 (Cordless Telephone 2nd generation) type systems,
PCN (Personal Communication System) type systems,
GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) type systems,
DCS 1800 (Digital Communication System) type systems.
The invention also concerns a process for transmission of a unidirectional channel by a base station of a radiocommunication system, the base station comprising at least two antennas and the process comprising the following steps:
determining the unidirectional or non-unidirectional character of a channel to transmit, and
switching from one of the antennas to another in accordance with a predetermined random or pseudo-random law it the channel to transmit is unidirectional.
Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of one embodiment of the invention given with reference to the accompanying drawings.